I reckon she was doing her "reaching out" stuff, going to a Free State paper, sister to Belfast Telegraph, known to be "kind" to unionists. Getting Horan to do it rather than a political hack suggests to me she wanted to put the whole Arlene the reasonable person story out there.

I reckon she was doing her "reaching out" stuff, going to a Free State paper, sister to Belfast Telegraph, known to be "kind" to unionists. Getting Horan to do it rather than a political hack suggests to me she wanted to put the whole Arlene the reasonable person story out there.

I reckon she was doing her "reaching out" stuff, going to a Free State paper, sister to Belfast Telegraph, known to be "kind" to unionists. Getting Horan to do it rather than a political hack suggests to me she wanted to put the whole Arlene the reasonable person story out there.

Then she leaves herself open with this crap. Silly mistake.

/Jim.

Well she wasn't attempting to be nice and considering the misogyny stuff she was rabbiting on about it was bad manners at best to be describing a fellow woman party leader purely aesthetically with no mention of her intellect, or various other abilities.I think Arlene struggles to hide her snideyness when put under any sort of pressure at all.

Well she wasn't attempting to be nice and considering the misogyny stuff she was rabbiting on about it was bad manners at best to be describing a fellow woman party leader purely aesthetically with no mention of her intellect, or various other abilities.I think Arlene struggles to hide her snideyness when put under any sort of pressure at all.

I doubt that Niamh Horan put her under too much pressure. In fact reading the article I do think that the whole thing was an effort to show the "nice" side of Arlene.

Calling someone 'blonde' is more than describing the colour of their hair. We're not stupid about that one.

However, if the two were pals and got on well and there was a good camaraderie between them, she could get away with it and it could be laughed off as banter.

But we are now in the most tense phase in relationships between our two communities for 20 years and she really needs to watch how she talks about those who are refusing to go back into power with her citing a lack of respect and integrity.

I can understand Arlene for disliking republicans for what they did on her family, but she is now the leader of unionism. She needs to have a bigger picture. The problem is, she hasn't. She is still worried about what Ethel back at the Masonic Lodge will say.

I wouldn't take what Foster said as being too serious and it is a bit of a storm in a tea cup. However, it is very clear to me that she was trying to be condescending towards O'Neill with those comments. It was a daft thing to say on her behalf, why even steer the interview in that direction.

I'd have to say I thought the comments on the whole were complimentary although perhaps not appropriate in the circumstances of an interview. It has given more ammo to SF (no pun intended). As for the guy in Dunfanaghey if he wants to fly the flag and your insulted, sure don't visit his property. it's full of Brits anyway sure.

Arlene when asked about how she felt about a fellow politician replied about her looks rather than the job she thought she was doing. She would not have referred to Martin McGuinness as Curly or any other male politician in that way. It is highly sexist. She even tried to stop herself before saying it admitting that it was sexist.

Forgetting the politics, if you don't see this as sexist then you are seriously missing the point.

Then look at who it is coming from, the former first minister and it is just yet more proof of her incompetence in the job.